US weather: Tornadoes kill 3 as forecasters warn of wave of dangerous storms

COLUMBIA, Tenn. (AP) — Forecasters warned that a wave of dangerous U.S. storms could move across parts of the South early Thursday, after the storms hit a day earlier. devastating tornadoes and massive hail, killing two in Tennessee and one in North Carolina.

The storms add to a series of torrential rains and tornadoes that have crossed the country this week, from the Plains to the Midwest and now the southeastern United States. At least four people have died in the storms since Monday.

Amid Wednesday’s storms, the National Weather Service continued to issue tornado warnings extending past midnight in North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri and Kentucky. Parts of Arkansas and Mississippi were also under tornado watches until dawn.

A storm that hit Northeast Tennessee on Wednesday brought high winds that toppled power lines and trees. Bob Brooks, the sheriff of Claiborne County, about an hour north of Knoxville, said a 22-year-old man was in a car when he was fatally struck by one of the trees.

A second person was killed in the Maury County town of Columbia, where the National Weather Service said a probable tornado touched down. Columbia is just south of Nashville.

Homes were damaged and people were injured, according to Maury County 911 deputy director Lynn Thompson. Thompson told The Associated Press he could not provide further details: “We are overloaded right now. »

Rita Thompson, a spokeswoman for Maury Regional Health, said the hospital received five patients, including the person who died. Another was in serious condition and three had injuries that were not life-threatening, she said.

The storms also prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to make a temporary stop at Nashville International Airport and the National Weather Service to issue a tornado emergency — its highest alert level — for other nearby areas south of the state capital, including Chapel Hill and Eagleville.

Meanwhile, torrential rain and thunderstorms led to water rescues northeast of Nashville.

“Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing a flood-prone area or under an evacuation order,” the National Weather Service warned when it issued a flash flood emergency.

In North Carolina, a state of emergency was declared Wednesday evening in Gaston County, west of Charlotte, following a major storm that toppled power lines and cut down trees, including one which landed on a car. One person in the car was killed and another was taken to a hospital, authorities said.

The storms slammed into the region Wednesday after parts of the central United States were hit Monday by heavy rain, strong winds, hail and tornadoes, including a deadly tornado that torn apart in an Oklahoma town and killed one person. Then, on Tuesday, it was the Midwest that was hit hardest by the bad weather.

The National Weather Service said tornadoes touched down in parts of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana on Tuesday.

In Michigan, tornadoes swirled in the southwest part of the state, in and around Kalamazoo County, according to the National Weather Service. Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency in four counties.

The Portage area of ​​Kalamazoo County was hit hard by the destruction of a FedEx facility, leaving about 50 people temporarily stuck inside due to downed power lines.

Travis Wycoff ventured out Tuesday evening after seeing on radar that a tornado had touched down in the Portage area, and he said he helped an elderly couple out of their partially collapsed home and freed a service dog from another home.

“There were a lot of people running through the streets trying to find people and their pets,” Wycoff said. “It was just a lot of chaos.”

In adjacent Pavilion Township, more than a dozen homes were destroyed at a mobile home park and 16 people were injured, Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller said.

Samantha Smith grabbed a box Wednesday afternoon outside her mother’s partially destroyed home in Pavilion Township. Inside the box were her grandmother’s ashes. Being able to recover the most valuable items offered Smith a rare moment of relief amid the storm’s devastation. She said her parents and brother were injured during the storm but survived.

“I’ve probably thanked God a billion times since this happened yesterday,” she said. “My children are healthy and good. We just need to make up for what we lost.

Tornadoes were also confirmed in Pennsylvania, just outside Pittsburgh, central Arkansas and northern West Virginia. The West Virginia tornado was at least the 11th tornado this year in the state, which experiences two tornadoes in an average year.

The Plains and the Midwest were hammered by tornadoes this spring.

___

Cappelletti and White reported from Detroit. Associated Press journalists from across the country contributed to this report, including Rio Yamat, Heather Hollingsworth, Colleen Slevin, Jim Salter, Kathy McCormack, Sarah Brumfield, Beatrice Dupuy, Alexa St. John, Adrian Sainz, John Raby and Lisa Baumann.

___

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from several private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP standards to work with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas on AP.org.